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“Shower and then we’ll figure this shit out.”
Standing, I groaned. After stumbling to the bathroom, I threw up, getting rid of all the stuff my body didn’t like, just like I’d told the group of first graders. Only when my stomach was blissfully empty did I swallow a few pain pills, then stand under the hot water until my skin pruned.
Surprisingly, Mav was still in my house when I came out in sweats and a t-shirt. The scent of bacon and eggs made my stomach flip, but the cup of coffee Mav handed to me calmed it. I ignored how it scalded my tongue and drank it all.
“Here.” A plate of food was held in front of me. I snagged it, then gave my brother a look.
“You have no sympathy.”
“You brought this shit on yourself. You could be with Mal right now. Instead, we’re both suffering.”
“Oh yeah, your poor dick.” I picked up the fork and shoveled in a mouthful of eggs.
“My dick shouldn’t be in the middle of your love life.”
I glowered, then ate some more.
“Let me guess, you pulled your head out of your ass and figured out you’re in love with Mal.”
“Pretty much.” I clenched my teeth around a piece of bacon and ripped it in half.
Scout and the stray cat sat side-by-side staring up at me.
“What’s the cat doing inside?”
Mav shrugged. “Followed Scout in.”
I ripped the remaining piece of bacon in half and gave it to each of them. Scout didn’t even chew his. The cat set it on the floor, sniffed it, then ate it daintily.
I was impressed Scout didn’t try to steal it.
“So. You’re in love with Mal and she’s with Bridge. Let’s get this figured out.”
“I feel like you’re here for selfish reasons and not for brotherly ones.”
I finished the food, rinsed the dish and put it in the dishwasher.
“Purely selfish.”
I grabbed a glass from the cabinet, filled it at the sink and downed the whole thing. I was starting to feel slightly human. Except I also felt… empty.
“I was with Mac when they got the call. I got pulled along and it turned out to be Mallory in the car.” I’d never forget that moment. “I was helpless. All my training to be a doctor and I couldn’t help. Mac and his crew got her out.”
“So you had to stand there and realize that you actually have emotions after all.”
I nodded. “The kid who was killed, the one I told you about?”
“Yeah?” He leaned against the counter and crossed his ankles.
“I felt nothing. Then… when I was waiting to find out if Mallory was dead or alive, I felteverything.Panic. Fear. God, the fear.”
“Welcome to loving someone.”
“It’s too late. I was talking to Verna and Mallory overheard me say we were nothing.”
His eyes widened, but he stayed quiet.
“It was just supposed to be sex. Itwasjust sex.”
